About a month ago, Embarcadero released a Community edition of the RAD environment for Delphi and C++. Because I've been familiar with Delphi since the second half of the 90's (from version 3.0), I've decided to try my hand at making a Ludum game in Delphi 10.2 and (for the very first time) using FireMonkey framework. Because the theme 'running out of space' made me think about shrinking game board, in the past 2 days the logical - random puzzle game 'Dice Blackout' was created.
All of the game's assets are compiled in the .exe file (unfortunately, it's Windows 7 or newer only). The file is relatively large (about 13 MB), but that's due to the FireMonkey framework. If I didn't use it, filesize would be much smaller, but most of the graphical problems would have to be solved using many roundabout ways - in much longer time.
It's my third game written in Pascal and finished in time for Ludum Dare. The first (2014) was 'Musing About' - a simulation about being a painter in XIX century, created in FreePascal (in Lazarus). In 2015, using the same tools, I've created DEmonsterization (a puzzle game about escaping a dungeon while simultaneously trying to become human again)
How to play:
Every level consists of 10 dice scattered on an orange board. Your task is to click on a sequence of 3 consecutive numbers in ascending or descending order, for example: 4, 3, 2 or 2, 3, 4. You can't start with the middle number (for example: 3, 4, 2). You'll have to hurry, as the board gets more concealed as times passes, and dice disappear. Clicking on a die that doesn't fit into the already started sequence (as in 3, 4 and clicking 1) will make the black board cover blink red and the die will remain active and not become a part of the sequence. Die that is a part of a sequence turns inactive and won't react to clicking again.
There can be more than 2 possible sequences among the 10 dice on the board. The higher numbers are in the sequence you choose, the more points. Choosing the highest one also gets bonus points!
If on a level you didn't manage to find a sequence of 3 numbers in time the game is not over - you'll just get fewer points.
The game consists of 5 levels, all keeping score - try to get 100% of points available!
really cool that you developed this with Delphi, interesting idea as well, good job. (ps: Don't forget to rate other peoples games so that you too get some ratings, i found this on the zero tab)
Interesting idea! Finished it on the first run through though. Seems like it needs a little more something, otherwise the gameplay seems pretty basic as is albeit fun!
Simple but very solid interface. This is a work to be proud of. A few things that would have made this game perfect according to me: Would have prefered to have those words of explanation inside the game. The gameplay could have been more developped (with combos and stuff, so we need to think more about what combo we should do)
Neat little game and bonus nostalgia points for programming in Pascal(well, kudos anyway). I'd suggest giving just the smallest pause when the first number of a sequence is hit. I'd also suggest just closing the box quickly when a play hits a die that cannot be followed. I can see this game having pre-set goals (like "only use descending order" "must include a 5" and the like and going on longer. Neat idea that I hope you decide to expand upon.
Not a bad concept, but pretty easy when you just have to check for "6-5-4" every time. Maybe you could spice it up by adding different size dice, like 8-sided or 12-sided.
I beat the game! :D This worked well, it's a simple concept but not quite like anything I've played before. It feels like a good 'brain training' kind of game. Could be developed further by adding more mechanics / variety
this game could be perfect with a little more work on the details, like the speed at which the "walls" close up, the number of levels, and the difficulty
Nice game, I hope to see more updates and improvments sooner. If you don't bother take a look at our game when we focused on Graphics and visuals and see the results that we got: https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/spacelab-42
Former Delphi dev here (started with v1, peaked with v3, dabbled off and on with later versions until Borland ate itself). Still kinda miss Delphi, and I'm really surprised to see a Delphi entry here. :)
Nice simple idea, well-executed, clean. I'd love to see it further developed and exported to more target platforms. :) Hope you've had a great LD!
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A few things that would have made this game perfect according to me: Would have prefered to have those words of explanation inside the game. The gameplay could have been more developped (with combos and stuff, so we need to think more about what combo we should do)
Also, your game scared the hell out of my AVG
Please do check my game maybe you’ll like it and leave some feedback.
If you don't bother take a look at our game when we focused on Graphics and visuals and see the results that we got:
https://ldjam.com/events/ludum-dare/42/spacelab-42
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Didnt read later - 10/10
(but played ofc)
Nice simple idea, well-executed, clean. I'd love to see it further developed and exported to more target platforms. :) Hope you've had a great LD!